He says several years ago research found that, per person, Scotland was spending more on healthcare than the other three UK nations and had more NHS staff, but that Scots died earlier than their counterparts. He writes:

"The health gap is still there. Office of National Statistics data from October 2010 on council areas, showed a 13.3 year difference in male longevity between Glasgow and Kensington & Chelsea, with eight out of the 10 worst council areas in Scotland. In August, the ONS added that Scotsmen’s healthy life expectancy (in other words, years lived while in good general health) declined 1.4 years from 61.2 to 59.8 between 2005-7 and 2008-10, while Englishmen’s healthy lifespan rose 2.8 years from 61.6 years to 64.4 years over the same period."

"GP commissioning is the one policy Labour's health spokesman, Andy Burnham, and the coalition can agree on – with the role of the CQC and hence of Behan clouded by the Francis report into the Mid Staffs debacle.

Meanwhile, Hannah Fearn reports from the Labour conference that local government efforts to improve public health could be undermined by councillors who refuse to promote important but 'difficult' messages, such as talking about condoms and safe sex. Speaking at a fringe session in Manchester this week, councillor Jonathan McShane, cabinet member for health, social care and culture at Hackney council, warned that local authorities may not have the confidence or independence to tackle problems such as teenage pregnancy, sexual infection and the health risks faced by sex workers.

I was reminded of a saying attributed to a West African health professional: ‘Learning about culture is like learning a language. The same words often mean different things. What does family mean? Responsibility? Respect? What does pain mean? What is a good life? These ideas probably exist in all cultures but they are not always thought of or expressed in the same way.’

The true nature of the bill was not adequately described by the Beeb. It insisted, almost robotically, in describing it as a "bill to give power to GPs". Indeed, the banner scrolling on the screen when the bill passed read "Bill which gives power to GPs passes". This was government spin consistently reported as fact. In reality GPs overwhelmingly rejected the bill.

Elsewhere, a conversation on the values and principles of the NHS constitution is taking place on Twitter today. You can read more on the Department of Health website, and follow the debate using the hashtag #nhsconstitution.

And Cambridge News says a consultant neuropsychologist has started a five-day hunger strike to protest about how whistleblowers are treated by the NHS. Dr Narinder Kapur, a former senior medic at Addenbrooke’s, who won an unfair dismissal case earlier this year, is staging the protest outside the Department of Health in London. He told the paper:

Whistleblowers are often not listened to or are treated unfairly.

It pains me to see how failures in the NHS have contributed directly or indirectly to harming patient care, to a waste of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and to distress for NHS staff and their families.

Over the past two years, I have repeatedly raised my concerns in a wide range of settings – NHS, legal and political – but with no tangible outcome to fix these failures in the NHS.

Morning headlines

Good morning and welcome to the daily blog from the Guardian healthcare network. Throughout the day, we'll be rounding up the key news stories, comment, blogposts and tweets across the sector.

Our latest party conference debate takes place in Manchester today with panellists including the shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham, Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, and Clare Gerada, chair of the Royal College of GPs, discussing new partnerships in healthcare.

The Guardian reports this morning on a warning by Diabetes UK that another 700,000 Britons will be diagnosed with diabetes by 2020, pushing the total to 4.4 million, without concerted government action to persuade people at risk to radically overhaul their lifestyle. The charity's chief executive, Barbara Young, said:

If this projected increase becomes reality it would be a calamity for the healthcare system and a disaster for public health.

There's also news of a report by the Young Foundation thinktank, which claims ministers' insistence on competitive team sports will alienate schoolchildren instead of tackling their sedentary lifestyles.

Making headlines elsewhere this morning, the BBC reports that doctors warn an operation used instead of a full hip replacement has a high failure rate and, in most instances, should no longer be offered.